Christmas Market in Fellbach, Germany

Postcard DE-3731053 from Germany shows the Christmas Market around the town hall in Fellbach, Germany. It opens from December 4 to December 21 in 2014, and it has an open-air ice rink next to the Lutheran Church through January 6, 2015.

The food court opens daily from noon on weekdays, from 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday; and closes late on 8:00 p.m. (although it's early in Las Vegas standard.) Many groups from kindergartens, schools, music and chorus clubs perform daily at the City Hall courtyard.

Ho Ho Ho

It is the time of the year again to join more than 10,000 Santa lookalikes to run 5K or walk 1 mile in the annual Great Santa Run in Las Vegas, Nevada, and get a special postmark on your mail from Santa Claus Station, Santa Claus, Indiana.

In its 10th anniversary at downtown Las Vegas, the Great Santa Run, is a fundraiser event for Opportunity Village, a nonprofit organization founded 60 years ago in 1954 that serves almost 3,000 people with intellectual disabilities with vocational training, employment opportunities, enrichment services and other supports. (Update: the number of runners in 2014 was tallied as 8725)

The Great Santa Run in Las Vegas, 2014

In Santa Claus, Indiana, the famous small-town post office Santa Claus Station, the only one in the world bearing the Santa Claus name, is offering a special pictorial postmark on holiday mail again this year, continuing a tradition since 1983. Every year, the holiday postmark is designed by a local high school art student during an annual contest. Shyann Smith, a 2014 senior at Heritage Hills High School from Fulda, Indiana won the 2014 competition. The postmark is available from December 1 to December 24.

Postmaster Marian Balbach asks anyone who requests the special cancellation to follow the guidelines:

• Allow at least a 2-inch by 4-inch space in the stamp area for the picture postmark;
• Apply postage to cards or letters before bringing or mailing them to the post office;
• If you wish to mail Christmas cards to the post office, package them—with postage stamps already on them—in a sturdy envelope or box, and mail to: Postmaster, Santa Claus Station, Santa Claus, IN 47579-9998;
• The picture postmark is available on working days between December 1 and 24;
• The picture postmark must be requested by the postal customer;
• To ensure a good postmark imprint, do not enclose large or bulky items in your holiday mail (Ex: reindeer food, snowflakes, glitter, stickers, etc.);
• There is no charge for postmarking; however, there is a limit of 50 picture postmarks (hand cancellations) per person per day.

Postcard US-2452330 to Taiwan was sent in to the Santa Claus Station for its 2013 edition of the special cancellation, replacing a prior Flying Jenny card presumably lost in the mail.

National Finals Rodeo Celebrates 30th Anniversary

In the past 30 years since 1985, more than 1 million cowboys and cowgirls and their friends have invaded Las Vegas during the pre-Christmas periods for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo that has sold out 280 consecutive performances at the Thomas & Mack arena. Last year, the total attendance was over 176,000 with almost 90-million-dollar non-gaming economic impact to the city. In 2014, the competitions run from December 4 through December 13, along with Cowboy Christmas Gift Show and Cowboy Fan Fest at Las Vegas Convention Center’s North Halls.

Postcard US-2168978 to Germany was part of the postcard book Western Horseman purchased at the Cowboy Christmas Gift Show during the National Finals Rodeo in 2012. It shows the magazine's October 1950 cover and brings to mind Western heroines of that era. Barbara Stock, a Colorado University student and aspiring young horsewoman was photographed by frequent contributor Clarence Coil. Barbara Stock, who competed in local horse shows and rodeos, appears with her favorite Pinto mount at a ranch near Colorado Springs.

2014 Cowboy Christmas Gift Show

Lighthouse Westerheversand

Postcard DE-3712774 from Germany shows a rainbow and the Lighthouse Westerheversand, located in Westerhever on the northwestern tip of the Eiderstedt Peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Surrounded by salt marshes, it is a major attraction on the peninsula for its 80,000 annual visitors.

The 9-story lighthouse was built on a mound in 1906, with a focal height of 41 meters and a range of 21 nautical miles or 39 kilometers. It can be seen as far as 55 kilometers away in a clear day. The lighthouse was featured on a 55-cent German commemorative stamp in 2005.

Source

Me and Jim Found Tonopah

Postcard US-3100087 to Ukraine was purportedly from "me", the mule on the top-right insert, and my owner Jim after we found Tonopah at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95, about half-way between Las Vegas and Reno in Nevada in the 1950s.

"Here we are in Tonopah, Nevada, that great silver mining camp that for a generation was the nation's greatest producer of silver. A beautiful, modern little city, but DIFFERENT. Fine highways leading everywhere; finest of hotels and torist accommodations; unexcelled climate; good stores, schools, theatres. Best of hunting and fishing in season. Noted gaming palaces. You only live once - be sure and visit Tonopah. It IS different."

Tonopah is a the county seat of Nye County, Nevada with a population of 2,478 in 2010 census and a total area of 16.2 square miles or 42 square kilometers.

North Pole Postmark Offered Through December 15

According to a news release from the U.S. Postal Service, once again, USPS is offering North Pole postmarks on holiday mail in 2014.

To receive the North Pole postmark on your holiday cards, you should:

• Purchase stamps at any post office.
• Affix the stamps to envelopes of your choice.
• Address the sealed envelopes, with the cards enclosed, to those on your mailing list.
• Mail them in a larger envelope,  box,  Priority Mail or Express Mail package to:

NORTH POLE HOLIDAY CANCELLATION
POSTMASTER
4141 POSTMARK DR
ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998

Requests must be received in Anchorage by December 15, 2014 in order to ensure delivery by Christmas. The Postal Service receives hundreds of thousands of requests each year for North Pole postmarks from around the world.  The service is provided at no cost.  Each card or letter must have the correct amount of postage and be addressed.

Postcard US-2529937 to Taiwan shows a rubber stamp impression of polar bears sledding on a sleigh with a USPS Gingerbread House Forever stamp, before the card was sent in for cancellation last year.

Need It, Want It, Got It

I found this GoCard I collected many years ago during a house cleaning that advertised Recycler Classifieds, a Los-Angeles-based classifieds-only newspaper, first started in 1973. Its print editions expanded into 10 regional markets including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas by 1998.  Its digital edition Recycler.com was one of the first vast online classified advertisements communities with thousands of local ads covering cars, merchandise, employment, real estate and anything else. However, after several rounds of corporate buy outs, it missed the opportunity to compete with and stand out from other online sites such as eBay and Craigslist.

Postcard.com that produced this GoCard advertising is now a New York-based public benefit corporation with strives to achieve the highest standard for socially responsible businesses.

On a separate note, on this World AIDS Day in 2014, there is a #weareALLclean Shower Selfie Campaign that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and eliminatse stigma for those people who are infected by the virus.